Gotham S1E04– “Arkham”: First Impressions

With the latest Gotham fresh in our minds, we’re here once again to share our first impressions. Here’s our feelings on episode 3 of Gotham: (SPOILER HEAVY, as always.)

There’s still more we don’t know about Barbara and Montoya. In this week’s episode, Babs finally came clean to Jim about her past with Detective Montoya. Thing is, she left out the drugs we heard about last week, and who knows what else… To be fair, Jim is hiding a lot from her as well (like a certain feathered friend, or rather “old friend” whom I can’t keep giving the spotlight to but I’m going to anyway.) I’m curious to see how things pan out in this triangle, especially because Jim and Babs seem headed for a breakup (though if they follow the comics that may not come… yet.)

Another great villain this week! Gladwell, the hitman with the incredibly unique weapon (a real cringe-inducer in the best of ways during that opening scene) was an excellent antagonist this week– as I said last week about the Balloonman, he’s a villain that’s not over the top or overly campy, but is still dangerous enough to pose a real threat to Gordon and Bullock. Also, the overarching villainy here– let’s not forget that he’s working for Falcone and Maroni– continues to set the stage for a greater arc. Which reminds me…

Arkham (for the third week running…) Arkham has made my first impressions list for about three weeks now, always with hope that the next episode would give us a bit more of a look at the “Serious House on Serious Earth” we see in the comics. While we still don’t really get to see much more of the asylum or its staff (I was sorta hoping for a member of the Arkham family to appear), there are more details leaked about Maroni and Falcone’s designs on the place, so that at least has been put to rest.

Penguin. Okay, so I reeeeeeaaallly don’t want to keep hyper-praising Robin Lord Taylor for excelling as Oswald Cobblepot, but if he’s going to keep giving us fantastic performances, I’ve got no choice but to keep telling all of you what a great actor he is. The guy deserves all the praise he can get. That said, a second MVP place for this week goes to Erin Richards as Barbara Kean (whom I really enjoy when the character finally stands up for what she believes in and does something cool– think of the phone call in episode 2 or even last week’s confrontation with Montoya) for delivering some great moments with Ben McKenzie (it takes two to tango, and Ben can hold his own). I hope that as the tension rises between the two of them and Renee Montoya (Vicki Cartagena, also excellent), that we don’t end up hating any of the characters– right now they’re all pretty relatable, and I want to like all three of them. I’ll leave you with a Question. (Yes, that was intentional.)

What’s going on with Fish? She was casting a new “singer” in her club in tonight’s episode, but there was clearly more to the job. (Also, while some said the first girl to audition looked like Harley Quinn, I don’t buy it.) Anyway, the point is, she’s “looking for a weapon” and someone who can seduce her, which begs the question– just WHAT is Fish actually after? All in all, I’m glad Gotham has been leaving some larger threads laying around lately. Hopefully they’re setting up some big season-wide (and hopefully series-wide) arcs, and as long as we get to see them come to fruition, I’ll be a happy man.

That’s all we’ve got for this week (at least, as far as initial ideas go)– but check back tomorrow as we expand upon these points (and more) in our detailed Gotham S1E04– “Arkham”: Full Review!

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